My Mindanao? My Mindanao!

    Klaus

July 24, 2007 by Klaus  
Filed under Klaus

Daybreak. Dawn. Early morning air. Arduous I do try to keep my eyes open, so that I must not miss this great spectacle again: an unforgettable  sunrise paints the environs  with all color the nature puts  us at its disposal. I’ve put in a large portion of my life  just trying to make things easier for my loved ones and myself. I feel having all the time of life I want in my hands. I pray to God that this might be the place to settle down, where I can relax, take things easy and where I can spend the rest of my life.

The natural beauty that abounds especially this part of the world makes me cheerful as well as the relationship to the arm and friendly people living here. I can learn from them about diverse ethic cultures and its very special way to live life even with struggles and trials or in painful poverty. What counts for them in life? Hope, faith, charity? Here I can fulfill the kinds of life I always have dreamt about.

Troides Magellanus, a very beautiful butterfly, tries to play with me since several minutes while I suddenly see colorful sails under tropical sun surface on the horizon. The sea gypsies from Zamboanga, the Badjaos and their boats, their vintas are the “caravans of the ocean”. The sails are so very colorful and visible that the boats never get lost their mutual contact even  while a heavy storm ttries to part them.

Sand beaches, crystal clear water, a complete undisturbed atmosphere - it’s a part of paradise. This part of the southern Philippines is the melting pot of Christians and Moslems, of foreigners or tribes such as Badjaos, Subanon, Tansug, and Yakan. My Mindanao? My Mindanao!

I don’t care the innumerbale bad stories and reports about this part of the Philippines. I ignore the unstable, unrestrained, and unfounded inaccuracies and inexactitudes in worldwide published and broadcasted reports about Mindanao without being blue-eyed or naive.

My enthusiasm and my declaration of love are not yet finished. One can’t stop me anymore, If I go into raptures while I’m watching the most beautiful orchid worldwide, the Waling-Waling, which can you only find here in Mindanao (Davao).

Or, can you imagine the incredible view from top of the grandfather of all Philippine mountains, the Mount Apo, really the highest point nationwide? Of course, one must be very lucky, if the circumstances allow you - even for a few seconds onky - this wonderful and unforgettable spectacle. My Mindanao? Yes, meanwhile for sure: MY Mindanao!

The nations fruit basket allows me - for example - the “taste of heaven” besides the “smell of hell”. Once, you like this “terrible” fruit named Durian, you won’t like to miss it anymore.

Mindanao, the second largest island of the Philippines, with mosque towers and women, dressed in Malongs, blessed paradises for nature loving people, who admire exotic plants, boiling volcano springs, rain water lakes, plunging waterfalls, torrential rivers, the “monkey eating eagle” …! I love my Mindanao…

Come with me and go back to the sea. Profile is a slope with many varieties of corals, and lots of tropical fishes. There are also garoups, parrots, and different shells in this area, which is notable for its good visibility and for its access from the shores. Lush corals reefs on narrow shelves around the islands and tall pinnacles.

Yes, my dear fellow creatures, I am a foreigner, who lost his heart to Mindanao - I’m very clear about it! I clasped Mindanao to my bosom. I would like to recommend Mindanao warmly to everybody. Mindanao - the land of hope, the land of promise… . - Once Mindanao - always Mindanao… .

Mindanao - I love you. From the bottom of my heart!

About the Author:  Klaus is from Germany, but has been living in the Philippines since the late 1990’s. Klaus is a journalist by trade, having written for a number of newspapers, studied also Publishing House Management and Marketing and has also been a Radio Host here in the Philippines.